Improvement in cotton-presses



UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

GEO. PECK, OF FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-PRESSES` Specification forming part oi LettersPatent No. 3.466, dated Mmrchil, 1844.

To L ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE PECK, of Fairfield, Fairfield county, Stateof Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pressesfor Pressing Cotton and other Substances, which is described as follows,reference being had to the annexed drawings of the same, making part ofthis specification.

Figure l is an elevation of the machine.

The frame A of this machine may be made in the usual way by framingtogether four posts and the requisite number of sills, caps, and railsor girts. The box B, for containing the cotton, is formed inside thisframe about two-thirds the depth of the frame or of any convenientdepth.

C is the door where the cotton is admitted tothe box; D, an additionalor small door made in one of the large doors C, for admitting cottonwhen the doors C are closed and the box is nearly lled; E, the bars forsecuring` the doors; F, the follower for pressing the cotton upwardagainst the head-block; G, the head-block, fixed permanently in the heador top of the frame by spiking or nailing the timber to the under sidesof the caps, grooved for the insertion of the cords around the bale; H,the two levers, attached to the under side of the follower by theirupper ends, which are made large and formed with three arms, being madeto enter three corresponding mortises in the `under side of thefollower, and inserting a suitable bolt; I, two wheels turningl in shoeson the outer or lower ends of said le,- vers, traveling in a groove in arailway lined with iron. The rollers, however, may be placed in the wayand the levers made to move over them. J is the said railway grooved andshod with iron; K, blocks and tackle attached to the levers and to acentral fixed post inserted into the way at the center of the machine,the ends of the rope of said blocks being passed around the windlass; L,the windlass; M, a cog-wheel on the'ends of the windlass; N, a pinionworking into said cog-wheel, and turned by a crank. This pinion is fixedon horizontal axle S, which has a sliding movement transversely forthrowing said pinion in and out of gear with the cog-wheel, said slidingaxle having also a hook or stud or pin inserted into it, over which ispassed a rope attached to the follower, for

4by the movements of the levers.

drawing it down by being wound-on said axle when the latter is movedtransversely and the pinion is ushipped from the cog-wheel.

O is a crank for turning the axle S; P, the pin or hook inserted intothe axle S; Q, the rope attached to the follower and the said -pin P inthe sliding axle S. (Represented by dotted lines.)

T are pounders for pounding the cotton into the box. These pounders aremade like the frustums of cones, and, when raised, fit into apertures ofa corresponding shape made in the under side of the head-block, beingheld in that position by horizontal pins g, inserted through them abovethe headblock. The handles t, or stems, of said pounders are screwed orkeyed into them. Their arrangenient and use is to do away with thenecessity of putting men into the box to trample the cotton. The shoesinto which the ends of the lever are inserted are made of metal, thesides being extended, forming flanges or ears, between which the rollersare placed.

V WV X represent a combination and ar- Arangement of springs for drawinghack the levers to` a horizontal positions, in order to lbring down thefollower. Y is a roller to which the springs WV X are fastened. Z arevibrating beams or arms in which the roller revolves. These beams areattached to the frame by bolts, on which they move. The spring Visattached to the frame and to the head of the spring XV. ward the middleof the machine during the compressing operation, the aforedescribedsprings are contracted. The extension of the springs, or the effort tostraighten themselves, draws back the levers H to nearly a horizontalposition. The arms Z and top spring, B, rise and fall as the springschange their positions ratus is to -be used in conjunction with the axleS and cord Q, or without them.

In constructing the railway J the bottom of the groove should be made tohave an inclination from the frame to the outer ends.

A ratchet-wheel should be placed on the windlass-wheel, in which a pawlattached to the frame works; or the pawl may be made to work into theteeth of the large cog-wheel, as i represented at p.

Vhen the levers are drawn to- This appa- The above-described machine isequally well adapted to the compressing ol" bales of cotton as topressing the cotton into bales.

Operation: The levers lll being extended, the follower F down, and thedoors C open, the cotton or substance to be pressed into a bale isiilled into the box B and pounded therein by the pounders T until thelatter be filled. The doors G are then closed and secured by the bars E.The small door D is then opened, through which cotton is introduced toll the remaining space in the upper part of the box. This beingco1npleted,the pounders T are raised and secured, and the small door Dclosed and made fast. The operation ol' pressing will then be commencedby turning the gearing M N. This Will turn the windlass L and wind upthe ropes R of the blocks and sheaves, which will draw the lower ends ofthe levers inward toward the windlass and toward each other, and at thesame time canse the upper ends of the levers to rise with the follower'F attached thereto7 carrying with it the cotton, and pressing it into acompact body or bale against the permanent head-blockCr. The doors arethen opened, the bale tied and removed. The sliding` axle S is thenmoved transversely 'in its boxes, which unships the pinion 'from thecog-wheel, and the rope Q, attached to the follower, is then made fastto the hook or pin l? in the sliding axle. Theaxle is then turned by thecrank O, which winds up the rope of the follower and draws the latterdown into the box, at the same time extending` the levers and leavingthe machine ready for another operation similar to that above described,the pinion being again brought into gear with the cog-wheel. Thefollower may also be brought down andthe levers be extended by theaction of the spring V WV X, as aforesaid; or said springs may be madeto act in conjunction with the aforesaid slidingaxle and rope inproducing the same result.

I make no claim to the combined levers and follower, nor to theapparatus for drawing them together in pressing; but

Vhat l do claim as my invention, and which I desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

The combination of the springs and levers for drawing' down thefollower, in the manner set forth.

GEORGE PEGK.

Witnesses:

WM. P. ELLIOT, ALBERT E. JoHNsoN.

